PAL conducts repatriation flight to Barbados for Royal Caribbean seafarers

Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) last week conducted a repatriation flight to Barbados as part of the journey home for 252 seafarers—US nationals and Latin Americans—on the Royal Caribbean of the Sea cruise line which had been docked in Manila.

In a statement on Sunday, PAL said they were flown to Barbados on March 20 on an Airbus A350.

"Before taking the PAL flight, the seafarers were in quarantine for several weeks at the cruise ship which docked in Manila. They were eventually given the green light to return home," the carrier said.

Upon touchdown at Bridgetown in Barbados, the passengers then took flights to their home countries, which include Jamaica, Honduras, Sta Lucia, Trinidad & Tobago, Chile, Panama, El Salvador, Haiti, Grenada, Nicaragua, Guyana, Columbia, Dominican Republic, Peru, Panama, Bahamas, Uruguay and the US.

"Since the start of the enhanced community quarantine period, PAL has been carrying out sweeper flights and international special flights to ferry the stranded home, in coordination with foreign embassies and shipping lines," the carrier said.

Meanwhile, commercial flights remain suspended while the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) remains in place in Metro Manila and other "high-risk" key areas until May 31. — Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas/BM, GMA News